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Sunday, April 3, 2011

Run off election round-up

We start with this item from the Chicago News Coop. They talk about the mailings against challenger Roderick Sawyer. First however the lay of the land:

It’s up to voters living in the 6th Ward to decide whether to re-elect their veteran alderman, Freddrenna Lyle, on Tuesday, but plenty of people outside the South Side ward will try to influence their decision.

Ms. Lyle is a longtime ally of organized labor groups that did not back Mr. Emanuel’s election as mayor. She also has the endorsements of Mr. Emanuel and business groups that have feuded with the unions.

Roderick Sawyer, her challenger, said the incumbent had been compromised because she was beholden to too many groups with conflicting interests.

“You can’t serve two different masters,” said Mr. Sawyer, who won 25 percent of the vote in the February election to finish second among six candidates and force the runoff.

Ms. Lyle, who received 45 percent, said she did not worry about the possibility that someday she would face pressure from her backers to pick sides on City Council votes where not all of them are in agreement. She said Mr. Emanuel told her he understood that she was not always going to vote for his agenda when he promised to support her campaign at a meeting after the February election.

We already know about the mailers attacking Sawyer, I need to post some so that you know what I'm talking about. Still this is how much money the SEIU and the Mayor-elect campaign committee is spending:

A political fund created to help the mayor-elect’s endorsed candidates in the runoff has spent more than $35,000 to aid Ms. Lyle, state records show.

The Service Employees International Union, which did not endorse Mr. Emanuel, has donated at least $68,000 to her campaign since October, but also has spent tens of thousands on mailings attacking Mr. Sawyer.

While the mailings from Mr. Emanuel’s political committee focus on Ms. Lyle’s record, the service employees’ mailing criticized Mr. Sawyer for owing back taxes and for what it claimed was his support of video gambling. Mr. Sawyer said he was paying off the delinquent tax bills and denied supporting video gambling.

Oh yeah the back taxes mentioned in a few of the SEIU's recent mailers.

Also, the Tribune looks at Mayor-elect Emanuel's attempted to build a favorable coalition on Chicago's City Council.

Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel built a reputation in Washington for getting his way by being pushy. The City Council here has a reputation as a pushover for outgoing mayor Richard M. Daley.

But as Chicagoans go to the polls Tuesday to fill remaining council seats in a runoff election, there are signs that Emanuel and the next council are changing their ways. Or at least talking a good game.

Aldermen say they're ready to stand up to Emanuel in a way previous councils rarely did when Daley held the gavel and built a City Council loyal to him by appointing many of its members -- a luxury Emanuel won't have when he takes office in May.

So the former congressman and White House chief of staff is working feverishly to make friends on the 50-member council, knowing he'll need them to push through his agenda.

Emanuel, who's backing eight incumbents and one challenger in Tuesday's election, is telling aldermen he wants to work with them, not bully them. But he also put them on notice by suggesting that cutting the size of the city council in half might not be a bad idea.

This article is worth your time. Ald. Lyle was quoted here in addition to Ald. Brookins and Ald. Beale from the neighboring 21st and 9th Wards.

BTW, Emanuel was nearby in the 17th Ward campaigning for Ald. Latasha Thomas who is in a run off there. He has endorsed in the race and offering financial support as well:

Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel today added the personal touch to his financial support and endorsement of 17th Ward Ald. Latasha Thomas, appearing with her at a get-out-the-vote rally in advance of Tuesday's runoff election.

Thomas, an 11-year City Council veteran, faces David Moore in the head-to-head contest. Moore says Thomas has let things slip in the ward, which includes parts of Englewood, West Englewood and Gresham.

But in his first announced appearance at a campaign event hosted by a candidate in one of the 14 aldermanic runoffs, Emanuel told a crowd at the New Friendship Baptist Church in Englewood [854 West 71st Street] that he likes the work Thomas has done, particularly in bringing several grocery stores into the area.

Emanuel said he plans to ask grocery store chains to present citywide plans for opening new outlets. He said Thomas’ success bringing Sav-A-Lot stores and an Aldi to the ward at a time when several Chicago neighborhoods have become food deserts shows she understands how to make things happen.

“I want a partner who knows what we need in our neighborhoods for economic development, job creation and nutritional health of these children. I need Latasha Thomas on my side,” he said to applause.

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